


Pickup

by NRMania



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Ash finds a lot of stuff randomly, Ash is a swole shy girl, Ash is hybridised with three pokemon, F/F, Genderbending, My door just closed by itself and I'm scared., Other, Pikachu is Cosplay Pikachu gg me., Pikachu isn't here in the first chapter, Pinkan Berries UU, They also have Psychic powers and Aura because I like making characters op, female ash ketchum
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-12 08:06:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15991115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NRMania/pseuds/NRMania
Summary: Uh... Pokemon abilities are pretty cool, some research was done by Professor Oak about how people might have them too. Turns out it was kinda true, but they weren't active... but children were pretty close to doing so, and that means a familiar boy was brought in for a safe test... that proved pretty fruitful.But there were some side effects... lots of them... lots and lots of them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still hiding from my normal posting site, take an additional bribe. This is an even stupider story than my previous one.

Pickup

Chapter One: Ability Overload

_ Humans with Pokemon abilities? _

_ Professor Oak theorises that the link between human and Pokemon in DNA is so high that some humans have the ability to unlock abilities similar to a Pokemon's. Minor proof comes from people with psychic powers or the ability to control aura. But more specifically Professor Oak is looking for the passive powers of a Pokemon, abilities. Does your daughter have Cute Charm? Could your son have Levitate? Does your teacher have Pressure?  _

_ Further research is being done at this moment, so interested readers should look for information in later issues! _

[*Professor Oak’s Lab, about a month after the issue in ‘Pokemon Science!’ was released*]

“Ah, Delia. Thank you for coming.” The aged professor greeted cheerfully.

“It’s no problem at all, Samuel. I’m glad I could help with your research.” The woman replied. “So you say my Ash could have a Pokemon ability?”

Said child, a boy at the age of four, was sitting on a chair nearby moving his legs happily.

“There is a very high chance, DNA test results from before show that normally inert genes in your son are slightly active, and even that small amount could do something… but I get the feeling we can do something to awaken them even further. It would be a tremendous thing for the research.”

“How would that be done? Nothing dangerous I hope?” Miss Ketchum said, worry slightly etching her tones. 

“Nothing of the sort… in fact it might be something your son would enjoy. But first…”

The man moved over to the child, who looked at him with a smile on his face.

“H’low prfesser!”

“Hello, my boy. I need you to do something, can you sit still for a moment?”

“Mhmmm!” Ash stopped kicking his legs around and sat still, causing the professor to nod and smile gratefully at him. The man moved his hand into one of his lab coat pockets, and pulled out what appeared to be a pokedex… but some additions were sported on most of the parts. With a press of the button, the dex’s camera shutter went off and it started clicking… a few moments later. 

“Scan complete DNA matches data of Pokemon of the Zigzagoon line… attention… scans also indicate DNA matches with other Pokemon, but gene inactivity prevents further deep scans.””

“Interesting…” The Kanto Professor “Well that first part will make it extremely easy for further tests, my associate Professor Birch just sent me a some Zigzagoons and a Linoone to me as his labs were a bit full at the moment. If you two would like to come with me.”

Both mother and son nodded, and followed the man outside into the Pokemon corral, where many of the creatures were either dozing, eating, or firing off moves at each-other in mock battles.

A few minutes of walking later the man stopped.

“Here they are. The Zigzagoons and the Linoone.”

“What do we need to do?” Delia asked carefully, watching the Tiny Raccoon Pokemon run around and roll over each-other playfully in a game of what appeared to be tag. The Linoone watched the three humans carefully… but its gaze was slowly moving intently towards Ash.

“It’s rather simple really, Ash just needs to interact with them.”

“Is that safe?”

“Certainly, this family of Pokemon have been in the company of Professor Birch for quite a while and are perfectly safe to be around.”

“Well okay…” The woman looked down towards her son “Go on Ash, play with the pokemon.”

“YAY!” The child cried happily, moving quickly towards the jumbled pile of wriggly creatures… who accepted the boy into their wriggly game of tag very quickly…

Changes were visible within the first couple of minutes. first the boy ran with them in a seemingly human manner… but then the boy’s movements became faster...  but in a zig-zag pattern similar to the zigzagoon, cheers of glee gained a lilt of pokemon cry tones, both adults looked shocked, but the professor was also furiously writing notes down in a pad…

And then…

“Lino!” The Linoone barked out thirty minutes after the four began playing, the three Tiny Racoon Pokemon and Child looked its way.

“Huh? Nap time? Buh Iv only jus’ started playing!”

“Line!”

“Oh… well mayb we’ll play tag again soon! Bye guys! It was fun!”

With that the child went back to his mom, his speedy movements still in a zig-zag pattern.

“What was that about, sweetie?” 

“Miss Linoone says is time for her childrn to go to stop playin’, they’ve been playin too much today and they’re still y-young so they need to get a lot of sleep.”

“Ash… Miss Linoone didn’t say that in a way I could understand. How did you understand it?”

“Oh! Was that why is sounded so weird? I didnn really notiss… is it time for me to nap in the sun too?” The child gave a wide yawn, which had the edging sound of a ‘goooon’ as they breathed out. “I feel all tingly… is makin’ me sleepy, moma.”

“Of course, dear…” The woman picked the child up and let him wrap his arms around her neck. She idly stroked his head… and was surprised when she heard a small, cry-like happy noise come from him.

“Professor, I think your research was true…” She said in an uncertain manner.

“It seems so, I didn’t expect it to be like this though… maybe your son is more connected to pokemon than we thought.”

[*’Pokemon Science!’ magazine*]

_ Humans with Pokemon abilities- Continued! _

_ Readers who were looking for more information on Professor Oak’s current research, prepare for details! A month ago his research proved to be right, and perhaps even stronger than thought before! _

_ When questioned on this detail, he described a boy, whose name has been left out of this magazine for privacy reasons, whose Pokemon-related DNA was active, interacted with a Pokemon this DNA was most similar to. Apparently the boy immediately started acting in a similar manner to the Pokemon, taking its movement patterns and even making similar vocal responses to small things… and then was seen listening to and understanding the Pokemon's evolved state! _

_ A day later the activation of the ability was picked up on, as Professor Oak described the boy and his mother returning to the lab, hands filled with stray items the child mentioned as ‘just noticing’. How a child notices an everstone buried in the ground and covered in mud was chalked up to the Pokemon which was active in the DNA and was interacted with, zigzagoon, and its ability of Pickup. _

_ It has been further theorized that the activity of Pokemon-related DNA is in fact more active at younger ages and dies down when puberty is reached… but before you parent readers out there go seeking a professor to check the DNA of a child so you can give them special powers… this research has been put on hold from continuing with other child candidates, and any attempts of trying to do similar events have been marked as illegal in the eyes of the government and will have the attemptees arrested. _

_ When questioned why his research was now put on hold, he gave an extremely reasonable answer. _

_ “The Young boy that participated in the research has still been seen holding the attributes of the Pokemon closely related to him in DNA, and has been in fact interacting even more so in its mannerisms. His body has started to grow and modify in manners similar to the Pokemon, even growing a tail and his ears shifting to that of a zigzagoon’s, and we are unsure on how it will continue through his life. With safety in mind any further attempts at activating the Pokemon dna within children have been stopped… imagine if a child with a magikarp DNA is forced to live in water or die… what if that DNA evolves into a Gyrados’ and they go on a rampage? These ideas are why that research has been put on hold with other candidates.” _

_ With that rather scary note is where we end this segment… we shall try and keep you updated on the evolution of the child’s natures, but Professor Oak has mentioned these details may be kept quiet depending on what happens.  _

[*???.*]

A lot had changed in the after the test had taken place. Ash had continued to grow, his teeth sharpened and his nails started growing sharpened (both of these seemingly for the ingrained ‘battle’ strengths of almost all pokemon), his diet had changed to include more berries and lack meats…

But it was only the beginning.

That blip of other pokemon DNA reacted to the activity of the Zigzagoon’s… and wanted in.

Hair, which was previously taking a cream and brown striped effect, lost the brown and started replaced it with a light blue colour, brown eyes got orange flecks… and features started going softer, voice went higher… its ability activated and the world of Telepathy and Psychic powers woke up.

Continued tests revealed that the second active DNA was that of a Ralts… and more after that discovered that the DNA of pokemon inside humans also had an assigned gender, marking them as mother of father inherited…

Both of the then active DNA were from Delia’s family… and it was the tipping point... 

Delia did always want a daughter… just not in the way that was happening…

At least the mannerism of a Ralts did something to counteract the wild zigzagoon’s… in some ways.

In others it enhanced them. The boy’s, or rather girl’s, Pickup ability was pushed to a new potential and the girl was finding things that had never been uncovered with keen ‘ability senses’... nuggets of gold, strings of pearls, rare berries…

Even Pokemon now called out to the girl’s abilities…

BUT THEN… IT HAPPENED AGAIN.

One final DNA activated, this time from her father’s side. A Sinnoh Pokemon known as Riolu. The effects were shown in the lengthening of the poofy-spike tail and an additional shade of blue to the previous shiny-ralts colour in the girl’s hair. A glimmer of red also now flickered in her eyes.

No gender switch this time, it seemed like the body didn’t want to do that again… but there was a small increase to average muscleyness... 

In came the ability, Prankster. It didn’t exactly have much use to the girl… but that description was added to her personality as she began pulling pranks on Gary Oak, the professor’s grandson (and someone who liked to bully her for being ‘weird’)

Then there was a flicker of Aura… and questions about the ability of human aura users were brought up? Maybe Aura users had active Pokemon DNA, and their common Riolu or Lucario partners were the reason it awakened? Maybe it was the same for Psychic users?

Needless to say. The pokemon world wasn’t exactly the same, even if normal people didn’t notice.

And finally… when the girl known as Ash Ketchum, prankster, finder of rarities, shy but very in tune with people and pokemon alike reached the age of thirteen (surprising to most, but done in an attempt to gain more knowledge before her pokemon journey began)... a girl who was pretty small in most terms… would not be soon… 

because it was then, a month after her thirteenth birthday that puberty struck. Or rather… evolution struck.

[*Pallet Town*]

It was a normal day, as normal as it could be anyway, and Ash was laying in Professor Oak’s corral, enjoying the sun and listening to the chatter of Pokemon, or one specifically really…

A Zigzagoon that stayed behind when the others left, one that went by the name Sweets.

“ _ So I was watching all the magikarp swim around in the water and I was thinking ‘man those guys are super cool, I don’t know why anyone doesn’t think so too’ but then I saw a glint in the grass nearby and when I went to check it out there was a bunch of berries and I tried one and they were super good so I ate them all, I wish I had left some for you because I think you would have liked them too… but you like a lot of food! And you eat a lot of food because you’re so full of powers that your body needs a lot of food to stay in top shape…” _

Sweets was a very chattery thing, but the yapping was something Ash enjoyed… but then she stopped

_ “Ash! Ash! You’re glowing! I think you’re evolving! I wonder what will happen! You’re like three Pokemon, so which one is evolving? Is it all of them? Or just your Ziggyness? I hope its your ziggyness so I can tell all my siblings that you’re a Linoone before them…” _

The little zigzagoon was right. Ash was evolving, and she could feel it. The brightness of evolution blinded her, Sweets and any other pokemon in the area enjoying the sun.

And when it faded… she was taller!

_ “Woah! Pretty! Ash you’re so pretty, all of you evolved, I can feel it… and I can feel that your also really strong!” _

She gave herself a look over… and boy she was surprised! She looked more like an eighteen year old then a conventional thirteen year old. Her ears felt bigger, so did her tail… but they were no longer felt spiky either, instead they were more silky smooth (which made her a little sad…), and after feeling around that was confirmed. 

Her breasts, previously barely there, were now… maybe a bit too big, because they were rather quite big… and hiding between them was a silvery red fin… It seemed like a mixture of a Gardevior’s chest emotionally sensitive protrusion and a Lucario’s chest spike. She would have to be careful with that, because it was quite sharp!

The rest of her body had strengthened up, gaining quite a bit of muscle, or widening in the case of her hips in thighs, but not enough for it to be unattractive to a majority… one might call the build ‘amazon’ in nature… but maybe a little less than that.

“Is… that a six pack?” Ash asked herself, looking down and feeling the hard muscle of her stomach area… at that moment she noticed her voice had also gotten deeper, more gruff… but still girly… or maybe womanly would be a better way to describe it…

“I need some new clothes… maybe mom will have something?”

_ “Oh! Oh! Are you going to see miss Delia? Let me come with you! Please, She makes the best berry cakes and you told me she was making some today!” _

“You asked this earlier… and yes, you can come with me… Professor Oak has put you down as being my starter when the trainer applications went through five years ago.” She was technically a trainer, but just hadn’t left yet. She could go at any time now. “Actually… maybe I should go see the professor before I go… he might want to run a couple tests.”

He did indeed want to run a couple tests, once the surprise of the short, soft and quiet pre-pubescent girl that Ash was just hours before becoming the strong… teen didn’t exactly cut it now… so woman, who was in a pretty big need of a change of clothes. The casual tracksuit wear she had been wearing was alright, but it was stretching to its limits from her new bust and hips.

“Remarkable…” The man mumbled to himself as he prodded at the girl’s arms… she blushed at the touch, also sensing the man’s intrigue and other big emotions with her newly enhanced feeling sensors.

“Professor… this is the fifth time you said it in a matter of minutes… just make some quick notes and maybe a blood sample so I can get home…” Ash said softly.

“Of course, my apologies.”

It only took about ten minutes to get simple things done after that and when that was over she quickly made her way home. Sweets was held firmly within her grasp, which the Pokemon described as ‘super comforting, super strong and perfect for cuddling’ as she snuggled into strong muscle.

Delia Ketchum had quite the reaction to her son-turned-daughter and their evolution… she fainted.

But when she woke up she got out one of her own outfits and gave it to Ash, along with a promise to get her some actual clothes soon…

They certainly had enough funds, with Ash mysteriously finding rare and pricey items almost everywhere they went. Some were kept, but things that didn’t have any other use apart from looking nice were sold.

[*A Month Later*]

Nothing else of interest was picked up after Ash’s evolution, except a very big increase in appetite and overall increase in strength all across the board…

But then, she started feeling a little… weird.

A need to… go places. Sweets seemed to notice her being off too, and when the girl shared her feelings to her Pokemon friend… it understood.

_ “Its Pokemon wanderlust! Evolved Pokemon, or ones that are just older, get it eventually! Your desire to get stronger is telling you to go out and fight, or find a someone or something who can help you get stronger!” _

“Do you… get this feeling? We’ve known each-other for a while and you haven’t mentioned anything about it.”

_ “I didn’t need to, because you are my thing to help me get stronger… and you’re also my friend, so even if I got the feeling I would never leave you!” _

“Oh… well I suppose it’s almost time for me to finally go on my journey… to clear some of this feeling!”

_ “Cool! Cool! Come on lets go tell Miss Delia, she’ll want to know!” _

And Ash did, with her mother being very understanding about it.

“That’s just a teenager thing in general. It’s why so many go out on pokemon journeys” The Woman mentioned “When are you planning on going, we can have a party before!”

“I was thinking in about a week, so we could spend a little more time together before I go… and I can properly pack up, get the things I need.”

It was an understandable thing, and a fair amount of time when the girl had spent so long not actually going on a journey, Delia was lucky that their child didn’t go when they instantly reached the age of ten, because most children did so…

Even Gary Oak did… but his days of being a trainer was over, having suddenly followed the path of his ‘gramps’ to being a Professor…

He didn’t explain why it happened… but Ash knew something had… he was one of the teens that enjoyed talking about he was going to be the best, why would he suddenly just give up?

Oh well, part of her was glad she wouldn’t have to deal with him, even after being humbled from his journey he was still…

Well, he was still a cocky asshole. 

[*How long do you think its been now, huh?*]

“Remember, don’t forget to change your underwear… especially when your tim-”

‘Mom… please stop... so embarrassing...’ Ash’s voice echoed in her mother’s head as her hands covered her face…  she was still shy about a lot of things, her body being one of them. It was why her travelling clothes were very conservative, and didn’t show much of her skin. Her muscles were still clearly visible, but were hidden under a navy blue hoodie (which also acted as something to hide her changed ears), skirt (made the same colour, and marked in the same fashion as her tail)  and thick socks.

“Alright, alright. I’m just joking with you… but please do call often, and take care of Sweets, she gets into more trouble than you do.”

_ “I do not, tell Miss Delia that she’s lying for me!” _ Said Zigzagoon was on top of the girls head, its form wiggling happily.

‘She says that you’re lying… but having to deal with protecting her from The Professor’s Dragonite, I know you have a point.’ The girl telepathically shared to her mother, who gave out a happy laugh.

“I would love to keep talking, but you wanted to go at ten… and its already ten minutes past that time.” At the mention of this Ash checked her Xtransceiver (something she had actually found, in near new quality and without anything that would indicate it as previously owned… so kept for herself) for the time, her eyes widened as she saw it read 10:10

‘Oh goodness, you’re right!’ The Human-Lucario-Gardevoir-Linoone… person quickly scooped up their heavy duty mountaineer bag- loaded with heavy calorie food, random useful trinkets and plenty of empty space for other objects she may find- without much effort and opened the door outside.

“Bye mom… I love you.”

“Goodbye Ash… I love you too, all of you, even the parts others may find weird.”

With that, Ash left her home. The sun making its way up into the sky as she went down the first route of her journe-

“Hmmm?” Ash saw a glint of something on the floor, without much thought she picked it up and gave it a look…

It was a marble-like sphere that shown like a rainbow. A DNA shape inside it.

Two parts of her cooed at the sight of it, almost as if they knew it was a way to get stronger. She placed it safely within an empty pouch that was inside her large bag, which had the letter ‘U’ that stood for ‘Uknown’, very few items had been in this pouch… one of them was a purple poke-ball marked with an M.


	2. Chapter Two: A Route Of Goodies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Berries are found and they are pink. A chu is found and they are Pika. A hand is burned and it is golden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still hiding, but I'm at least getting back into the swing of writing so maybe I'll actually write the thing that is causing me to hide from the other site, and then people will be happy.

Chapter Two: A Route Of Goodies

Ash walked down the path calmly, her eyes searching around the area in search of any trinkets or goodies that may have been around.

_ “Oh, I see something!” _ Sweets yipped out from atop its perch upon the girl’s head.

“Where?” The Chimera-like girl asked as her gaze moved catching where the zigazoon’s paw pointed.

There, a little bit off the path… was a small abandoned crate, which seemed to have been there for quite a while if the branches from a bush next to it encompassing it was proof of anything. Ash went over to it and pulled it out of the bush and examined it, briefly noticing the red R emblem on the top… and that it was still nailed shut.

‘and mom said I wouldn't need a crowbar…’ the girl thought as they went onto one knee and pulled out said prying tool from the pack, it was slightly rusty and had probably seen better days, but that's what a random crowbar found half in a lake would probably be like.

It still pried open crates well enough, because without much effort the lid of the crate creaked… then popped off

The girl looked inside and saw... berries?

A lot of pink berries, which certainly didn't seem like Pechas.

“BERRIES?!” Sweets squealed, jumping off of Ash’s head and diving directly into the box and attacking the berries with the ravenousness of a starving snorlax.

_ “They're so good! The sweetest thing I've ever tasted, I'm eating the whole crate!” _ The zigzagoon said between mouthfuls of the juicy morsels, staining is face fur pink.

“Sweets… you just had breakfast an hour ago…” Then the girl’s nose tickled from the smell that was coming from the juicy flesh mouth-mashed berries… very sweet.

“But maybe a couple wouldn't hurt.”

Ash ate a total of ten berries before pulling the now juice-stained Sweets from the crate and putting what remained into a large jar.

“We're going to have to clean you off at a nearby stream, your brown stripes are a really deep pink right now." The girl said to the zigzagoon, who wiggled its way back onto her head-perch.

_ “We need to do the same for your head fur then… there are strips of pink in it too!” _ Sweets pawed a strand of hair into Ash’s eyes, which widened as she saw it now sported a deep pink too.

‘Huh? That's weird… why would my hair be like this, I didn't get juice anywhere near I…’

It was then she remembered something professor oak had been talking about over a video call to a fellow professor by the name of Ivy… a group called team rocket had stolen a batch of rare berries known as Pinkan berries… specifically for their effects of dyeing pokemon’s fur and skin pink, permanently if eaten in high quantity or for an extended period of time…

And that the more time they were left alone to ripen, the stronger the sweetness would be, and the less berries would be required for a permanent effect to be obtained… 

And it was two weeks ago that Professor Ivy had called Oak.

“Sweets… are you okay with being pink for a little while, or perhaps a very long time? I think I know what those berries were.”

_ “What kind… come on, stupid human stuff, open and give me the tasty berries again.”  _ Temptation had seemingly broken the mon’s will, as it attempted to open up Ash’s bag.

“They’re Pinkan Berries. They make pokemon pink, sometimes permanently if you eat too many.”

The jangling of the zipper stopped.

_ “How many is too many?” _ Sweets questioned.

“I don’t know, but the riper they are the stronger they are… and high sweetness is proof of their ripeness.” Ash replied, looking at her own random pink highlights that now marred her already varied colours, rifling through her skirt confirmed that it had been affected too.

_ “My brothers are gonna laugh so much about this if I ever see them again… but it was worth it for the taste… maybe you’ll let me have some more, because no more harm can be done?” _

“We’ll see… Maybe the effects still aren’t permanent...”

The walking continued in an attempt to take their mind off the… rather peculiar effect that had taken place… and the two companions were very quick to get distracted… this time by a rock.

_ “I don’t know why you’re attracted by the rock… It looks like a normal rock to me…” _

“I think it’s the other parts of me that make me notice the rock… because It reminds me of some other rocks I’ve found, which you’ve also said looked like a normal rock to you… but then Professor Oak saw one and said it was a fossil.”

_ “So put it in the bag?” _

“In the bag.”

And so the ‘normal rock’ went into the bag… and the walking began once more.

An hour passed, with a couple berries (which weren’t Pinkan ones thankfully) were found (and then eaten)... before they heard voices behind them.

_ “MOVE HUMAN! MOVE!” _

_ “GET THAT RAT… AND THAT BIG HUMAN WITH THAT PINK AND WHITE STRIPED ONE!” _

_ “ATTACK!” _

_ “CHARGE!” _

Ash turned… and saw a Pikachu, who actually looked kind of familiar, making a mad dash past them as a swarm of spearow cawed and swooped towards it…

_ “ASH, I THINK WE’RE A TARGET NOW! RUN!” _ Sweets brought up, panic lacing their tone. 

She didn’t need to be told twice, quickly started running as fast as she could… Faster than the Pikachu that ran by them in fact, because soon they were running past it. not wanting the pokemon to be harmed by the swarm, even if there might have been a reason for them attacking (but more than likely not, because the local spearow hoard just liked attacking things without reason), Ash scooped up the electrical mouse and brought it into her arms.

_ “What the… hey, let go of me!” _ The Pikachu said in annoyance.

_ “Not now sparkles! Let Ash use her strong legs to get us out of danger! Look, the swarm is already falling behind.” _ Sweets replied to it, the Electric type struggled in Ash’s grasp, but eventually managed to catch sight of the spearow horde… and them failing to match the speed of the ‘new trainer’.

_ “How is a human moving so fast?” _

_ “Because Ash is the best, and her thighs can crush a watermelon… I’ve seen it! Once Professor Oak brought one to the lab for a strength test and it was like ‘SPLOOSH’, it was crazy!” _

_ “This is not information I needed, Pinky! I’ve seen humans! Even the musclely ones don’t go this fast!” _ Pikachu cried out.

The conversation of ‘Ash is super cool and strong’ and ‘Yeah but humans aren’t like this!’ continued for quite a while… until

_ ‘Quiet… the both of you… we’re hiding now… I can still feel them coming’ _ Ash said commandingly into the two pokemon’s heads… Sweets immediately quieted from the order… but Pikachu went silent from surprise.

‘A PSYCHIC TOO… IS THIS HUMAN EVEN ACTUALLY HUMAN.’ said electric mouse screamed internally as the girl peeked out from behind the large tree she stopped at, and noticed only a couple spearows were around now… all of them were screaming at each-other.

_ “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T SEE THEM!” _

_ “I MEAN I DON’T SEE THEM!” _

_ “ARE YOU SURE THEY RAN THIS WAY?!” _

_ “WE WERE ALL FLYING TO THEM, WE ALL SAW THEM GOING THIS WAY… THEY WERE JUST TOO FAST.” _

_ “ARCEUS… ALRIGHT... RETURN TO BASE, MEN!” _

_ “HALF OF US ARE GIRLS, YOU DICK! OUR SPECIES IS A FIFTY-FIFTY SPLIT!” _

_ “DON’T QUESTION ME, UNDERLING.” _

_ “UNDERLING?! YOU BARELY KNOW HOW TO USE GUST. YOU ARE NOT MY HIGHER UP!” _

The Spearows had almost instantly forgotten they were on the search for a Pikachu (and then a human because they didn’t care) and were instead fighting amongst each-other. The one who called the other ‘underling’ was getting completely destroyed.

‘Yeah… this is what they were like the last time I saw them…’ Ash thought to themselves, thinking back to a year ago when she was assisting the professor with local wild population counts…

(That was an odd time, I’ll tell you… but another time perhaps. Anyway)

“Okay… we should be good for now…” Ash said, sighing out in relief. “While the swarm is pretty weak… I don’t want to deal with them.”

_ “Weak? Those guys are absolute menaces! I was just minding my own business under a tree after chewing up some big wires then they were talking about me going into their territory!” _

“It’s fine, really. The most they do is stea- wait… now I know why you’re so familiar… you were the Pikachu Professor Oak was trying to catch to stop you from chewing those wires… I was sure he got you…”

_ “Nah, nobod- You… can understand what I’m saying... “ _ Pikachu was *this* close to fainting, it was almost too much for them to handle.  _ “You know what… fine… sure… and yeah, the old man couldn’t stop me! His place had a lot of electricity too, he didn’t need all of it.” _

“He would have been fine if you didn’t chew the cables… there is a designated area where electric pokemon that gain sustenance from electricity can recharge and not chew through the wires.” Ash sighed, she’d been dealing with the professor’s complaints about Pikachu recently… her ‘evolution’ was a thankful distraction for that eventually though.

_ “I mean I guess I could have looked more…” _ The Electric Mouse relented.  _ “But I… really didn’t care, I just saw all that sparkly energy and had to try it.” _

“That’s fair and all, the lab deals with electric types coming in from the high power equipment regularly, but as I sai-

_ “Alright, you’ve said this enough. The yellow guy chewed some wires. Can we please change this conversation to something not so boring? Like… would you like to join Ash’s team? She saved your life after all so you owe her one.” _

“... Sweets don’t be so abrupt about those things…” Ash replied as the electric mouse let out a large  _ ‘EXCUSE ME?’ _ .

_ “You were just not up to ask yourself. You’ve had a ton of chances to get some wild pokemon onto your team, because you’re super nice, but you’ve never taken them. So now I have to do it for you, because if we’re doing the whole ‘pokemon league’ thing that most humans do when they go on a journey, you’re going to need more than just me.” _

“... You are sounding too mature right now.” Ash commented.

_ “Oh goodness, you’re right. Quick I need to say something more me! Pikachu, fight me and if I win you have to accept being caught.!” _ Sweets yapped out, staring at the increasingly more confused mouse.

_ “FINE. I accept, maybe a pokeball will be more quiet than what’s happening now.” _

Ash didn’t have a moment to talk them out of it, because they were soon on either sides of the road, which was thankfully clear of spearow scouts now as they avoided newly falling rain, and she was there ready to… be a trainer.

‘Now that is a weird thought… I haven’t actually done much commanding in battle before.’ the girl thought through the silent stare-off both pokemon were seemingly going through.

_ “Alright since we’re just having a staring contest and not battling yet… I guess I’ll start! THUNDERSHOCK!”  _ The electric mouse leapt into the air, letting out a burst of sparks as it did so.

“Ah… Sweets, dodge!” Ash ordered, the zigzagoon jumping quickly out of the way of the blast, which left a small charred mark on the ground. “Now use Headbutt…”

_ “WOOSH!” _ The pokemon said as it charged quickly towards the pikachu, who didn’t have a moment to think about it as they took a clean hit to the stomach.

_ “Urgh… ow… why does your head hit so hard?”  _ Pikachu inquired through their pain… before quickly attempting to retaliate with a Quick Attack of their own.

_ “A balanced diet, and plenty of supplements.”  _ Sweets replied, taking the hit like a champ before jumping back a distance, countering with a commanded throwing of Pin Missiles. The swarm of pink needles peppering her opponent rapidly.

_ “Ow ow ow ow ow OKAY ENOUGH, THIS WILL SURELY TAKE YOU OUT…” _ The electric type started sparking heavily, but didn’t release the charge, instead they pushed through the needle storm with a high speed… the sparks grew, forming a bolt-shell around the mouse.

‘That’s… a Volt Tackle?’ Ash thought… surprise stopped them from reacting, leaving Sweets to work by themselves.

_ “A finale? Let’s see if it can get through this!”  _

The rain fall grew heavier dropping an ocean that started to soak the ground… then the water coagulated, forming one heavy mass of water that Sweets was SURFING on top of. The wave was went in the direction of the Volt Tackling Pikachu, who didn’t react as tunnel vision was still pushing towards them in one direction… to their opponent.

With a loud crack of force and energy, the wave exploded as it met the opposing attack, soaking the surrounding area with water.

Both Pokemon were sent flying back, hitting the now muddy floor with a splat. Ash let out a noise of annoyance as they themselves were soaked in the exploding wave and shook themselves like a part of themselves was, throwing the hood off their head with the shake, unwittingly revealing their ears to… nobody really.

_ “I win.” _

_ “No, I win.” _

“I call it a draw... “ Ash cut through the near unconscious pair’s verbal combat before it started. The girl picked up sweets from the ground, who gave out a small noise as a small stinging sensation went through them.

_ “But if there is no win, how is the decision of catching them going to go, Ash?”  _ They commented.

_ “I accept capture. That’s how it’ll go.”  _ Pikachu said abruptly, getting themselves up off the ground with some effort.  _ “It was a good battle, I’ll accept being a part of this… little thing you have.” _

_ “Huh… that was ea- hey… was your tail always shaped like that?” _ Sweets, who was now looking at their previous opponent, noticed something was off…  _ “From what I read that shape is only on… you know I thought your voice was a little bit too high to be a dude’s” _

The Pikachu’s Tail, previously bolt shaped, was now tipped with a heart… and was marked with black. Within the amount of water, which was now running slightly yellow was wedge of what to be wood.

_ “Aww butts.” _ The Electric mouse said, their tone etched with a little dissapointment  _ “I knew I should have used waterproof paint and glue... Alright, I’ve been caught. I’m a girl pikachu and I’m battling normally, got a problem?” _

“Why would we have a problem?”

_ “Hoenn did. I’m trained for contests, and while I like contests I liked normal battles better… so I ran before I was officially caught and snuck onto a boat… I don’t even what this region is called, I’ve been just wandering around.” _

“Well I don’t know why you would be upset here… this is Kanto, contests aren’t officially here yet… for at least another couple months anyway. There were some unofficial contests, but it hasn’t gotten that much popularity as there hasn’t been any ‘spectacular shows’ and no big named trainer has participated.”

_ “Are you serious?” _

_ “Yeah, she is. Contests just aren’t popular here yet, so the only thing that looks special about you right now is the blackness on your tail.” _

_ “Cool… now if you want to catch me its fine… but I’m gonna pass out now.” _ . With that Pikachu fell to the floor with a moist thud. Ash picked the mouse up worriedly, but found that they were mostly just worn out, any other wounds were nothing a potion couldn’t fix. 

_ “I call that my win now cos she went down first... but you heard her. Get a pokeball out and bop her with it. She’s coming with us now.” _

“But… she’s unconscious… I don’t like doing that.”

_ “It’s what the handbooks said to do though, you told me, remember? battle them till they’re unconscious, then catch em when they can’t resist.” _

“They worded it better than that… you make it sound really bad.” It was accurate though.

_ “Just catch her already, one of the comfortable ones. Put me in mine too… I feel like I’m gonna pass out too.” _ ‘one of the comfortable ones’ was one of the pokeballs that were picked up randomly, and were in fact ‘Luxury Balls’.

“Alright…” From two of the more convenient pockets of the backpack, Ash pulled out two Luxury Balls, one of which was Sweets’ and the other was empty. With a beam or red light Sweets had vanished, and with another light the second one was filled, and gave a signal of capture a few moments later.

‘I guess it’s just me now…’ The girl thought as she stored away the balls. She looked up, taking in the blue above. ‘At least the clouds cleared up... huh?’

In the sky… was a bird-like pokemon, right above her. It was sparkling gold and rainbow colours all around it. A glint of light seemed to drop from it, and as it fluttered down her keen eyes saw it was a feather. Before it fell to the ground the girl caught it… and was surprised as it seemingly turned into burning hot ash into her hands. 

It was insanely hot, enough to leave burns… but part of her knew that she shouldn’t let the ash go, so she quickly got a pouch from her bag and put all she could inside it, filling the pouch before pulling it closed with its strings. Luckily, the ash was only warm when she was finished, so the cloth pouch didn’t burst into flames… but there was still a burn on her hand, a mark in the shape of a feather, which seemingly had an irregular golden colouration to it and held a residual heat…

‘Not even a day into the journey… and I’ve already caught a pokemon, turned some of my hair pink… and burned my hand with a bird feather… Not the weirdest thing in my life… but still quite interesting.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pickup Party Setup  
> Zigzagoon/Sweets  
> Gender: Female  
> Ability: Pickup  
> Moves: Headbutt, Odor Sleuth, Pin Missile, Surf  
> Special Things: Took Their Supplements like a good girl, Is now pink
> 
> Pikachu/Chu  
> Gender: Female  
> Ability: Static  
> Moves: Thundershock, Quick Attack, Tail Whip, Volt Tackle  
> Special Things: Cosplay Pikachu...
> 
> I like Pinkan Berries, people should use them more in stories. I mean, a berry that can make a Pokemon permanently pink? Neat. Rare, almost like a shiny.


End file.
